Humanities & Social Sciences
Description
Land and labour provides the first full-length history of the Potters' Emigration Society, the controversial trade union scheme designed to solve the problems of surplus labour by changing workers into farmers on land acquired in frontier Wisconsin. The book is based on intensive research into British and American newspapers, passenger lists, census, manuscript, and genealogical sources. After tracing the scheme's industrial origins and founding in the Potteries, it examines the migration and settlement process, expansion to other trades and areas, and finally the circumstances that led to its demise in 1851. Despite the Society's failure, the history offers unique insight into working-class dreams of landed independence in the American West and into the complex and contingent character of nineteenth-century emigration.
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Endorsements
Land and Labour charts the controversial history of the Potters' Emigration Society from its founding in 1844 to its dissolution seven years later. The brainchild of a Welsh-born trade unionist and editor, William Evans, it was the most widely discussed project of its kind in the era of mass migration. The Society aimed to solve the problems of surplus labour by transforming potters into farmers on land acquired on the Wisconsin frontier. The study examines the industrial background to the emigration scheme, and the establishment of the first settlement in America, the duly named Pottersville. Short of funds and facing competition from Feargus O'Connor's Chartist Land Plan, in 1848 it widened its membership to other trades and regions, opening branches in Lancashire, Scotland, and London and other industrial communities. Over-ambition, relentless criticism and the inherent difficulties of long-distance colonisation brought about its collapse at the beginning of 1851. While many emigrant families remained and prospered, others found less success, with an undetermined number returning to Britain. Land and Labour is based on intensive research into British and American newspapers, passenger lists, census, manuscript, genealogical and other sources. Despite its failure, the potters' emigration scheme was not an unrealistic response to the anxieties and displacements wrought by industrialisation, including fears over mechanisation. Its history offers unique insight into working-class dreams of landed independence in the American West and significantly contributes to our understanding of the complex and contingent character of transatlantic emigration in the nineteenth century.
Reviews
Land and Labour charts the controversial history of the Potters' Emigration Society from its founding in 1844 to its dissolution seven years later. The brainchild of a Welsh-born trade unionist and editor, William Evans, it was the most widely discussed project of its kind in the era of mass migration. The Society aimed to solve the problems of surplus labour by transforming potters into farmers on land acquired on the Wisconsin frontier. The study examines the industrial background to the emigration scheme, and the establishment of the first settlement in America, the duly named Pottersville. Short of funds and facing competition from Feargus O'Connor's Chartist Land Plan, in 1848 it widened its membership to other trades and regions, opening branches in Lancashire, Scotland, and London and other industrial communities. Over-ambition, relentless criticism and the inherent difficulties of long-distance colonisation brought about its collapse at the beginning of 1851. While many emigrant families remained and prospered, others found less success, with an undetermined number returning to Britain. Land and Labour is based on intensive research into British and American newspapers, passenger lists, census, manuscript, genealogical and other sources. Despite its failure, the potters' emigration scheme was not an unrealistic response to the anxieties and displacements wrought by industrialisation, including fears over mechanisation. Its history offers unique insight into working-class dreams of landed independence in the American West and significantly contributes to our understanding of the complex and contingent character of transatlantic emigration in the nineteenth century.
Author Biography
Martin Crawford is Emeritus Professor of Anglo-American History at Keele University
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Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is a leading UK publisher known for excellent research in the humanities and social sciences.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Manchester University Press
- Publication Date May 2024
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781526171351 / 152617135X
- Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
- FormatPrint PDF
- Pages280
- ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
- Publish StatusPublished
- Dimensions234 X 156 mm
- Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5811
- Reference Code15432
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